Analogue Boy
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DoctorCrippen said:
It'll end up like Raising Arizona.
It'll end up like Raising Arizona.
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Strange case of the detectives trying to trace Madeleine
After a week when commercials deals were more apparent than clues, we investigate the investigators
By Graham Keeley and David Randall
Published: 13 January 2008
Just when the Madeleine McCann saga couldn't get any more agonising, along came a raft of developments last week that began to achieve what you would hope would be impossible: turning a little missing girl into an industry – Madeleine Inc. Item: a London agency hawking around various small girls as Madeleine lookalikes. Item: US television bringing a team of psychics to bear on the disappearance as part of what they no doubt hoped would be a money-spinner of a show. Item: her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, exploring the possibility of selling the book and film rights to the case.
Unlike others, the motive of the McCanns is not profit. But it is, nevertheless, financial: the keeping afloat of the Find Madeleine Campaign. Set up in the immediate wake of her disappearance last May, it quickly raised £1.2m in part from public donations. But that sum is fast shrinking. Estimated to have only £346,000 come March, it will, at the present rate of spending, be all gone by July. And the biggest drain on it is Metodo 3, the Spanish detective agency now two-thirds of the way through a £300,000, six-month contract.
Speculation grows that its contract will not be renewed. It is not hard to discern why. Metodo has never recovered from the extraordinary swaggering comments of its director, Francisco Marco, when he boasted in December that not only did they know who abducted Madeleine, but that she could, in that most ill-fated of phrases, "be home by Christmas". So have the McCanns wasted £300,000 on the Spanish equivalent of Inspector Clouseau? Or are Metodo 3 slowly making progress?
Based in Barcelona's plush Eixample district, Metodo 3 inhabits the first floor of a Modernist block. Ever since the December faux pas, inquiries at the office are met with a polite response that the elusive Señor Marco is "in meetings" or "travelling".
The firm was set up in 1985, has another office in Madrid, and claims to have "correspondents in every European Union country". It runs a hotline for the public to report sightings and suspicions, and says it has been following up reports, concentrating most of its efforts and agents in Morocco and Portugal. They go and see the people who ring their hotline if they think the tip is strong enough and liaise with the local police in those countries. The agency insists all of its 40 staff are involved in the Madeleine case. They report "significant" sightings to the McCanns but not every detail.
Like so many companies in Spain, Metodo 3 is a family-run business. It was set up by Marita Fernandez Lado with her husband, Francisco Marco Puyelo. Their son, Francisco Marco Fernandez, a lawyer in his 40s, is the acting managing director. Francisco Marco was initially the media-friendly face of the agency until his mouth appeared to run away with itself. His sensational claim invited not only scepticism in Britain, but a rapid, angry response from Madeleine's parents, who told him to stop making outlandish claims. Marco has not given any more interviews since. Marita Fernandez said her son was misquoted.
Last month, Ms Fernandez told Spanish magazine Tiempo de Hoy that she only signed the contract with the McCanns in September because she believed the couple had nothing to do with Madeleine's disappearance. She said she believed Madeleine was still alive, was "not expecting to find a body", and that her firm was only working on one theory: she was in the hands of a paedophile gang.
Nagging doubts have always persisted about the suitability of Metodo 3 to solve the case. The firm is the biggest private detective agency in Spain, but its reputation is based on a corporate caseload – in the main, investigating fraud.
Many in Spain have been surprised that the toddler's parents chose this agency, and not just because it closes its offices between 2pm and 4pm, leaving one wondering who, if anyone, is answering its hotline.
Manuel Marlaska, a journalist from Spain's best-known investigative magazine, Interviu, who is well-acquainted with delving into the shadier side of Spanish life, said: "They are the most prestigious detective agency in Spain. But the work they are doing now seems strange. They do not have any experience of working with such a high-profile case as Madeleine McCann's. Also I have no knowledge that they have been involved in finding people."
Yet although their main work is fraud, patent falsification, patent falsification and information protection, their biggest claim to fame was in helping to track down the infamous Spanish spy "who came back from the dead", Francisco Paesa. Paesa was an arms dealer who, while working for the Spanish secret services, sold Eta missiles fitted with radio transmitters so that they could be tracked, leading to some important arrests. After seven years on the run, he was traced by Metodo 3 using tip-offs and financial records.
But a four-year-old child has no bank accounts or credit cards. Madeleine Inc bring benefits to some, but not, so far, to the girl herself or her distraught parents.
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article3333778.ece
After a week when commercials deals were more apparent than clues, we investigate the investigators
By Graham Keeley and David Randall
Published: 13 January 2008
Just when the Madeleine McCann saga couldn't get any more agonising, along came a raft of developments last week that began to achieve what you would hope would be impossible: turning a little missing girl into an industry – Madeleine Inc. Item: a London agency hawking around various small girls as Madeleine lookalikes. Item: US television bringing a team of psychics to bear on the disappearance as part of what they no doubt hoped would be a money-spinner of a show. Item: her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, exploring the possibility of selling the book and film rights to the case.
Unlike others, the motive of the McCanns is not profit. But it is, nevertheless, financial: the keeping afloat of the Find Madeleine Campaign. Set up in the immediate wake of her disappearance last May, it quickly raised £1.2m in part from public donations. But that sum is fast shrinking. Estimated to have only £346,000 come March, it will, at the present rate of spending, be all gone by July. And the biggest drain on it is Metodo 3, the Spanish detective agency now two-thirds of the way through a £300,000, six-month contract.
Speculation grows that its contract will not be renewed. It is not hard to discern why. Metodo has never recovered from the extraordinary swaggering comments of its director, Francisco Marco, when he boasted in December that not only did they know who abducted Madeleine, but that she could, in that most ill-fated of phrases, "be home by Christmas". So have the McCanns wasted £300,000 on the Spanish equivalent of Inspector Clouseau? Or are Metodo 3 slowly making progress?
Based in Barcelona's plush Eixample district, Metodo 3 inhabits the first floor of a Modernist block. Ever since the December faux pas, inquiries at the office are met with a polite response that the elusive Señor Marco is "in meetings" or "travelling".
The firm was set up in 1985, has another office in Madrid, and claims to have "correspondents in every European Union country". It runs a hotline for the public to report sightings and suspicions, and says it has been following up reports, concentrating most of its efforts and agents in Morocco and Portugal. They go and see the people who ring their hotline if they think the tip is strong enough and liaise with the local police in those countries. The agency insists all of its 40 staff are involved in the Madeleine case. They report "significant" sightings to the McCanns but not every detail.
Like so many companies in Spain, Metodo 3 is a family-run business. It was set up by Marita Fernandez Lado with her husband, Francisco Marco Puyelo. Their son, Francisco Marco Fernandez, a lawyer in his 40s, is the acting managing director. Francisco Marco was initially the media-friendly face of the agency until his mouth appeared to run away with itself. His sensational claim invited not only scepticism in Britain, but a rapid, angry response from Madeleine's parents, who told him to stop making outlandish claims. Marco has not given any more interviews since. Marita Fernandez said her son was misquoted.
Last month, Ms Fernandez told Spanish magazine Tiempo de Hoy that she only signed the contract with the McCanns in September because she believed the couple had nothing to do with Madeleine's disappearance. She said she believed Madeleine was still alive, was "not expecting to find a body", and that her firm was only working on one theory: she was in the hands of a paedophile gang.
Nagging doubts have always persisted about the suitability of Metodo 3 to solve the case. The firm is the biggest private detective agency in Spain, but its reputation is based on a corporate caseload – in the main, investigating fraud.
Many in Spain have been surprised that the toddler's parents chose this agency, and not just because it closes its offices between 2pm and 4pm, leaving one wondering who, if anyone, is answering its hotline.
Manuel Marlaska, a journalist from Spain's best-known investigative magazine, Interviu, who is well-acquainted with delving into the shadier side of Spanish life, said: "They are the most prestigious detective agency in Spain. But the work they are doing now seems strange. They do not have any experience of working with such a high-profile case as Madeleine McCann's. Also I have no knowledge that they have been involved in finding people."
Yet although their main work is fraud, patent falsification, patent falsification and information protection, their biggest claim to fame was in helping to track down the infamous Spanish spy "who came back from the dead", Francisco Paesa. Paesa was an arms dealer who, while working for the Spanish secret services, sold Eta missiles fitted with radio transmitters so that they could be tracked, leading to some important arrests. After seven years on the run, he was traced by Metodo 3 using tip-offs and financial records.
But a four-year-old child has no bank accounts or credit cards. Madeleine Inc bring benefits to some, but not, so far, to the girl herself or her distraught parents.
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article3333778.ece
OneWingedBird
Beloved of Ra
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I´ve seen that a phantom drawing has been released recently of the supposed kidnapper. This a mere 6 months after the event. Also it seems one of the witnesses says she saw this man carry away a girl in her pyjamas. I guess that is the image we saw earlier, where strangely the face was just a blur. I´m guessing the witnesses got together and talked a bit.
Ravenstone
Queen Under The Mountain
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- Aug 1, 2001
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- 1,492
The 'evidence' doesn't seem like it's going to be sufficient to name anyone.
I notice one suspect - Murat - has a lookalike near the complex. While the lookalike's movements on the day of Madeleine's disappearance are known, that doesn't mean that some witnesses are now mis-remembering when they saw who they saw.
I get people on the 'phone every day who categorically deny having made a 'phone call 10 minutes ago, the previous day, or last week. I know it's the same person. Either they're lying or they're very confused. Either way, it just shows that timelines aren't always very accurate.
I notice one suspect - Murat - has a lookalike near the complex. While the lookalike's movements on the day of Madeleine's disappearance are known, that doesn't mean that some witnesses are now mis-remembering when they saw who they saw.
I get people on the 'phone every day who categorically deny having made a 'phone call 10 minutes ago, the previous day, or last week. I know it's the same person. Either they're lying or they're very confused. Either way, it just shows that timelines aren't always very accurate.
OneWingedBird
Beloved of Ra
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just be thankful he doesn't look like mike oldfield 
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Murat friend quizzed over Madeleine finds car torched - and the word 'speak' scrawled beside it
By TOM KELLY Last updated at 08:40am on 21st March 2008
A man who was questioned by police investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance had his car set on fire yesterday and the word "speak" scrawled beside it.
Computer expert Sergey Malinka, 22, an associate of official suspect Robert Murat, woke up to discover the smouldering Audi A4 close to his flat in Praia da Luz, the Algarve resort where Madeleine went missing last May.
Sprayed in red paint on the pavement next to it was "fala" – Portuguese for "speak".
The Russian expat said yesterday: "Who the hell has written that? What exactly do they want me to say?
"They must be talking about Robert. There's nothing to say. I'm angry that someone would do this and I want to find out who it was."
Neighbours described hearing a bang like a "gunshot" at around 5am, apparently as the arsonist struck, although Mr Malinka slept through the commotion.
He was a business associate of Murat and was designing his website when Madeleine vanished shortly before her fourth birthday.
He was questioned as a witness after phone records showed that Murat phoned him at 11.40pm on the night she disappeared.
Police also seized computers from his apartment and discovered that he had wiped their hard disks.
He strenuously denies having anything to do with Madeleine's disappearance, and has claimed that he was beaten up by police during the interrogation to try to get him to admit involvement.
On Wednesday evening he parked his car about 40ft from his apartment. He said: "I went to bed and I switched my phone to silent. When I woke up I had 32 missed calls."
He added: "I'm not scared. It's just a car. It was a nice car, but at least I wasn't inside it.
"But I have no feelings about this. They ripped my heart out last summer when they involved me with all this."
Portuguese detectives and forensics experts spent the morning searching the remains of the car. Mr Malinka later met police to talk about the arson attack.
It is believed to be the third time a vehicle has mysteriously been set alight close to his house in the middle of the night, one of which was a van belonging to Mr Malinka.
Both the previous apparent arson attacks were before Madeleine's disappearance.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=540909&in_page_id=1770&ct=5
By TOM KELLY Last updated at 08:40am on 21st March 2008
A man who was questioned by police investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance had his car set on fire yesterday and the word "speak" scrawled beside it.
Computer expert Sergey Malinka, 22, an associate of official suspect Robert Murat, woke up to discover the smouldering Audi A4 close to his flat in Praia da Luz, the Algarve resort where Madeleine went missing last May.
Sprayed in red paint on the pavement next to it was "fala" – Portuguese for "speak".
The Russian expat said yesterday: "Who the hell has written that? What exactly do they want me to say?
"They must be talking about Robert. There's nothing to say. I'm angry that someone would do this and I want to find out who it was."
Neighbours described hearing a bang like a "gunshot" at around 5am, apparently as the arsonist struck, although Mr Malinka slept through the commotion.
He was a business associate of Murat and was designing his website when Madeleine vanished shortly before her fourth birthday.
He was questioned as a witness after phone records showed that Murat phoned him at 11.40pm on the night she disappeared.
Police also seized computers from his apartment and discovered that he had wiped their hard disks.
He strenuously denies having anything to do with Madeleine's disappearance, and has claimed that he was beaten up by police during the interrogation to try to get him to admit involvement.
On Wednesday evening he parked his car about 40ft from his apartment. He said: "I went to bed and I switched my phone to silent. When I woke up I had 32 missed calls."
He added: "I'm not scared. It's just a car. It was a nice car, but at least I wasn't inside it.
"But I have no feelings about this. They ripped my heart out last summer when they involved me with all this."
Portuguese detectives and forensics experts spent the morning searching the remains of the car. Mr Malinka later met police to talk about the arson attack.
It is believed to be the third time a vehicle has mysteriously been set alight close to his house in the middle of the night, one of which was a van belonging to Mr Malinka.
Both the previous apparent arson attacks were before Madeleine's disappearance.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=540909&in_page_id=1770&ct=5
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'Maddy sighting' prompts interest
Investigators for Kate and Gerry McCann are probing claims that a girl calling herself "Maddy" was seen in the Netherlands after their child vanished.
The information, reported to Portuguese police in June last year, has only now been made public with the release of previously secret police files.
The McCanns spokesman Clarence Mitchell said it was "tragic" that this kind of evidence has only now been issued.
Madeleine vanished, aged three, in May 2007 while on holiday in the Algarve.
The McCanns, both 40 and from Rothley, Leicestershire, have accused detectives of withholding potentially crucial evidence from them after the release of the official documents.
According to one file, Anna Stam, 41, a shop assistant, said she spoke to a girl aged three or four in Amsterdam who resembled Madeleine and said her name was "Maddy".
In reply to a question about her mother, the girl is said to have remarked: "They took me from my holiday."
A report was sent to Portugal on 18 June last year but it is not clear from the files what action was taken.
Mr Mitchell said: "It is harrowing to hear a child saying that. If it was Madeleine, it was a disgrace that it was not passed on.
"We need to know what happened with this. This is exactly the sort of primary information that we need to know if it was followed up properly by the police.
"If that hasn't been done, that is exactly the kind of information that the private investigators are going to follow up."
The Portuguese police inquiry into the girl's disappearance was wound up last month.
The McCanns and a third British national, Robert Murat - who have always strongly denied having had any involvement in what happened to Madeleine - were declared to no longer be formal suspects.
Among the new files released was a prosecutor's report that said the investigation had uncovered "very little" conclusive about Madeleine's fate.
There were also CCTV images showing a small child said to resemble Madeleine at an Algarve petrol station the day after she disappeared that the McCanns had not seen before.
Several other reported sightings across Europe have been examined by local authorities or the investigators working for the McCanns in the past but all came to nothing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7544384.stm
Investigators for Kate and Gerry McCann are probing claims that a girl calling herself "Maddy" was seen in the Netherlands after their child vanished.
The information, reported to Portuguese police in June last year, has only now been made public with the release of previously secret police files.
The McCanns spokesman Clarence Mitchell said it was "tragic" that this kind of evidence has only now been issued.
Madeleine vanished, aged three, in May 2007 while on holiday in the Algarve.
The McCanns, both 40 and from Rothley, Leicestershire, have accused detectives of withholding potentially crucial evidence from them after the release of the official documents.
According to one file, Anna Stam, 41, a shop assistant, said she spoke to a girl aged three or four in Amsterdam who resembled Madeleine and said her name was "Maddy".
In reply to a question about her mother, the girl is said to have remarked: "They took me from my holiday."
A report was sent to Portugal on 18 June last year but it is not clear from the files what action was taken.
Mr Mitchell said: "It is harrowing to hear a child saying that. If it was Madeleine, it was a disgrace that it was not passed on.
"We need to know what happened with this. This is exactly the sort of primary information that we need to know if it was followed up properly by the police.
"If that hasn't been done, that is exactly the kind of information that the private investigators are going to follow up."
The Portuguese police inquiry into the girl's disappearance was wound up last month.
The McCanns and a third British national, Robert Murat - who have always strongly denied having had any involvement in what happened to Madeleine - were declared to no longer be formal suspects.
Among the new files released was a prosecutor's report that said the investigation had uncovered "very little" conclusive about Madeleine's fate.
There were also CCTV images showing a small child said to resemble Madeleine at an Algarve petrol station the day after she disappeared that the McCanns had not seen before.
Several other reported sightings across Europe have been examined by local authorities or the investigators working for the McCanns in the past but all came to nothing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7544384.stm
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2005
- Messages
- 123
I'm coming in very late to this story but i remember an interview on Radio 2. A woman from the Portugese Press was quite scathing of the McCanns, she pointed out that there are many Portugese children missing (fair enough..) and that the police have enough do deal with without having to search for - an english girl - Isn't that awfull, to make that distinction.
escargot
Disciple of Marduk
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- 43,526
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- HM The Tower of London
What language was spoken? Must've been English.
I'm interested to note that the child apparently called herself 'Maddie', whereas the family always call her Madeleine. They don't abbreviate it.
However, the media do. So if an attention-seeker had read some 'Maddy' stories and decided to concoct a yarn accordingly, they might pick the abbreviated name rather than the full version.
Just a thought.
I'm interested to note that the child apparently called herself 'Maddie', whereas the family always call her Madeleine. They don't abbreviate it.
However, the media do. So if an attention-seeker had read some 'Maddy' stories and decided to concoct a yarn accordingly, they might pick the abbreviated name rather than the full version.
Just a thought.
- Joined
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This is sad - but perhaps at the same time, hopeful:
Madeleine McCann 'seen again' in Brussels
A girl resembling Madeleine McCann was spotted for a second time on the same day and in the same area as an earlier sighting, it has been reported.
By Graham Tibbetts
Last Updated: 9:00AM BST 12 Aug 2008
The youngster was in Brussels with a North African-looking woman who bought her a chocolate ice cream - Madeleine's favourite - from a street vendor.
The sighting on Monday last week occurred around the time the pair were picked up on CCTV footage by a security guard at a nearby bank.
Antonio Migliardi, who sold them the ice cream, said the woman was "very severe" with the child.
"She held her hand firmly and kept pulling her closer.
"When I gave the ice cream to the child she stood frozen. The lady took it in her place," said Mr Migliardi, 44.
"Normally a happy child always takes the ice. This was not a normal situation."
He said the girl was around five years old with blonde hair and distinctive mark in her eye.
"The little girl looked healthy but very sad. She had her eyes towards the floor and was too shy to look up.
"The lady asked her in a mixture of French and English what she wanted.
"The girl answered in English. She looked up for only a second, with an unhappy face, and said, 'Chocolate please'. then she looked down again," he said.
The girl and woman were also seen on CCTV by a security guard at KBC bank to the west of the city centre. The security guard said yesterday he would 'bet everything he owned' that the child he saw was the missing Briton.
He went outside to check on them after recognising the girl but only realised it may have been Madeleine after seeing a picture of her later. He has been interviewed by Belgian police.
Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing while on a family holiday in Portugal in May last year.
Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Gerry and Kate McCann, her parents, said the information was taken seriously.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... ssels.html
Madeleine McCann 'seen again' in Brussels
A girl resembling Madeleine McCann was spotted for a second time on the same day and in the same area as an earlier sighting, it has been reported.
By Graham Tibbetts
Last Updated: 9:00AM BST 12 Aug 2008
The youngster was in Brussels with a North African-looking woman who bought her a chocolate ice cream - Madeleine's favourite - from a street vendor.
The sighting on Monday last week occurred around the time the pair were picked up on CCTV footage by a security guard at a nearby bank.
Antonio Migliardi, who sold them the ice cream, said the woman was "very severe" with the child.
"She held her hand firmly and kept pulling her closer.
"When I gave the ice cream to the child she stood frozen. The lady took it in her place," said Mr Migliardi, 44.
"Normally a happy child always takes the ice. This was not a normal situation."
He said the girl was around five years old with blonde hair and distinctive mark in her eye.
"The little girl looked healthy but very sad. She had her eyes towards the floor and was too shy to look up.
"The lady asked her in a mixture of French and English what she wanted.
"The girl answered in English. She looked up for only a second, with an unhappy face, and said, 'Chocolate please'. then she looked down again," he said.
The girl and woman were also seen on CCTV by a security guard at KBC bank to the west of the city centre. The security guard said yesterday he would 'bet everything he owned' that the child he saw was the missing Briton.
He went outside to check on them after recognising the girl but only realised it may have been Madeleine after seeing a picture of her later. He has been interviewed by Belgian police.
Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing while on a family holiday in Portugal in May last year.
Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Gerry and Kate McCann, her parents, said the information was taken seriously.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... ssels.html
escargot
Disciple of Marduk
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This one has been explained today. The child's father came forward to state that his daughter had been out with her highly-qualified North African nanny when they stopped for ices.
I was looking at a still from the CCTV on the front of a newspaper today at work and thought, nope, that child is older than Madeleine would be. Looked like 6 or 6 and a half to me.
I was looking at a still from the CCTV on the front of a newspaper today at work and thought, nope, that child is older than Madeleine would be. Looked like 6 or 6 and a half to me.
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- 54,631
This is interesting:
Italy's Madeleine McCann 'found safe and well after four years'
A girl who went missing four years ago, and became known as Italy's Madeleine McCann, appears to have been found safe and well.
From Nick Pisa in Rome
Last Updated: 6:31AM BST 12 Sep 2008
Urgent DNA tests are being carried out on the eight year old girl found in Greece to see if she is Denise Pipitone, who vanished in 2004.
She missing from outside her grandmother's house while playing.
News of the discovery will bring fresh hope to Gerry and Kate McCann after their daughter disappeared in Portugal last year, and for the parents of Ben Needham who vanished in 1991 from the same Greek island, Kos, where the Italian girl was found.
The DNA tests were ordered after Denise's mother Piera, shown photographs of the girl found in Greece, said the "shape of the eyes was exactly that" of her daughter.
Other similarities were a birthmark under the same eye as Denise, the fact the girl spoke fluent Italian and most strikingly the 30-year-old Roma gypsy woman who was with her admitted to police she was not the girl's mother.
Police on Kos were alerted after an Italian tourist grew suspicious after the girl approached her with another youngster offering a bracelet for sale.
A sample of DNA was taken from the girl and flown to Italy after Greek police alerted Italian colleagues via Interpol.
Mrs Pipitone said:"I have seen so many photographs of children over the years but in this case the shape of the eyes is exactly that of my Denise.
"I have asked for a DNA test and one is being carried out. I don't want to get my hopes up, my feet will remain firmly on the ground until I see the results of the test.
"Four years have passed since she disappeared that's why I want to see the results of the test first."
Six weeks after Denise disappeared from her home at Mazzaro dell Vallo near Palermo a bank guard in Milan saw a distressed little girl with a group of Roma gyspies.
He made a videoclip with his phone but did not approach them. The footage was given to the police who showed it to Mrs Pipitone and she confirmed it as her daughter.
In the footage the woman said to the girl: "Danas" and she answered, in perfect Italian "Dove mi porti" (where are you taking me?). The guard also noted the birthmark under the left eye.
Italian police scientists analysed the film and later said that the clip showed seven facial feature points similar to Denise but as no DNA was taken it was impossible to say for certain.
It is not the first time that there have been sightings of Denise linked to Roma gypsies.
etc...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... years.html
Italy's Madeleine McCann 'found safe and well after four years'
A girl who went missing four years ago, and became known as Italy's Madeleine McCann, appears to have been found safe and well.
From Nick Pisa in Rome
Last Updated: 6:31AM BST 12 Sep 2008
Urgent DNA tests are being carried out on the eight year old girl found in Greece to see if she is Denise Pipitone, who vanished in 2004.
She missing from outside her grandmother's house while playing.
News of the discovery will bring fresh hope to Gerry and Kate McCann after their daughter disappeared in Portugal last year, and for the parents of Ben Needham who vanished in 1991 from the same Greek island, Kos, where the Italian girl was found.
The DNA tests were ordered after Denise's mother Piera, shown photographs of the girl found in Greece, said the "shape of the eyes was exactly that" of her daughter.
Other similarities were a birthmark under the same eye as Denise, the fact the girl spoke fluent Italian and most strikingly the 30-year-old Roma gypsy woman who was with her admitted to police she was not the girl's mother.
Police on Kos were alerted after an Italian tourist grew suspicious after the girl approached her with another youngster offering a bracelet for sale.
A sample of DNA was taken from the girl and flown to Italy after Greek police alerted Italian colleagues via Interpol.
Mrs Pipitone said:"I have seen so many photographs of children over the years but in this case the shape of the eyes is exactly that of my Denise.
"I have asked for a DNA test and one is being carried out. I don't want to get my hopes up, my feet will remain firmly on the ground until I see the results of the test.
"Four years have passed since she disappeared that's why I want to see the results of the test first."
Six weeks after Denise disappeared from her home at Mazzaro dell Vallo near Palermo a bank guard in Milan saw a distressed little girl with a group of Roma gyspies.
He made a videoclip with his phone but did not approach them. The footage was given to the police who showed it to Mrs Pipitone and she confirmed it as her daughter.
In the footage the woman said to the girl: "Danas" and she answered, in perfect Italian "Dove mi porti" (where are you taking me?). The guard also noted the birthmark under the left eye.
Italian police scientists analysed the film and later said that the clip showed seven facial feature points similar to Denise but as no DNA was taken it was impossible to say for certain.
It is not the first time that there have been sightings of Denise linked to Roma gypsies.
etc...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... years.html
OneWingedBird
Beloved of Ra
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- Aug 3, 2003
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erm, if they're waiting on the results of a dna test to verify, i think it'sd a bit premature to say that she's been found :?
Stormkhan
Disturbingly familiar
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What? You accuse the press of being "premature" when such headlines are available? Shame on you! You should know that the press publish plenty of spurious "breakthroughs" in the hope that they've actually got the first report. If it's false then they'll either ignore it (usually) or print a retraction - in very small print, hidden around page 12 nestling in between adverts for stairlifts and faithhealers.
escargot
Disciple of Marduk
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- Aug 24, 2001
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This bit is rather silly-
When did she become known as Italy's Madeleine McCann? Last week? :?
This bit is just cynical -
Seems a genuine coincidence that the girl has been 'seen' on Kos. Can't see it giving 'hope' to Ben Needham's family though.
When did she become known as Italy's Madeleine McCann? Last week? :?
This bit is just cynical -
Seems a genuine coincidence that the girl has been 'seen' on Kos. Can't see it giving 'hope' to Ben Needham's family though.
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2001
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- 1,921
I remember reading an interview with Ben Needham's mother about a year go.
She said that if he was found she wasn't sure what she would do. Would it be fair to take him away from the life he has known for so many years to come back and live with her? Chances are he doesn't even speak English.
She said that if he was found she wasn't sure what she would do. Would it be fair to take him away from the life he has known for so many years to come back and live with her? Chances are he doesn't even speak English.
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The whole shtick, about Italian children being stolen by Romani Gypsies, should start little, spurious-folklore alarm bells ringing, especially since Italian prejudice against Romanis is presently being exercised and encouraged, with the full weight of the increasingly far-Right Italian State, at national and local level.escargot1 said:
I'd be interested to see follow-ups to this one, but the story of the two little Romani girls, drowned and left to rot on an Italian beach, whilst holidaymakers continued to frolic and eat gelati, around their corpses, that appears to very true.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-picture-that-shames-italy-873743.html
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
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BlackRiverFalls said:
Indeed.
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I wonder if the Telegraph, which really does seem to be morphing into the Express, will now state that news of the outcome will bring fresh despair to the McCanns?The Daily Telegraph said:
Incidentally, I caught up wth an old friend who's a hackette for one of the tabloids last month - she was present at the press conference given by the McCanns after the Portuguese police released their files - and she completely believes that the McCanns are telling the truth. In person, apparently, their sincerity and anguish are absolutely tangible (as opposed to the Matthews clan, whom the press quite rightly realised were up to something very early on, but played along so the Police could get a clean nab.)
My mate also says that most of the really lurid headlines and wild speculation happens at sub-and editor level. The hacks on the ground are, generally, good and conscientious. As is the way in many an organisation.
McAvennie
Justified & Ancient
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Yesterday's NotW with the diary extracts, I suppose it is understandable that you would write down what is happening day to day if something major like this happened but I don't know...do people actually keep diaries like that these days? It seemed almost like a Dear Diary that a teenage girl would write, and the account of the day it happened seemed bizarre. Who would take the time on holiday before going out for dinner to write down what you had done that day to the extent of noting that you washed your hair.
Maybe Im just looking to deep cos tbh Im very cynical regarding this whole case. Also liked the way that the NotW blared "THE TRUTH!" across their cover. Would like to see if they could actually back that claim up in court.
Maybe Im just looking to deep cos tbh Im very cynical regarding this whole case. Also liked the way that the NotW blared "THE TRUTH!" across their cover. Would like to see if they could actually back that claim up in court.
OneWingedBird
Beloved of Ra
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'The truth' and 'News od the World' do not belong in the same sentence :shock:
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
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Full text at link.
OneWingedBird
Beloved of Ra
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A new suspect, not otherwise previously mentioned, and he is very ugly.
I suppose at least this time he does not have a blank patch where his face should be!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8036937.stm
I suppose at least this time he does not have a blank patch where his face should be!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8036937.stm
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